Afia with her surrogate mother Romina, Keepers at Bristol Zoo have announced that their ‘little miracle’ Afia, the young Western lowland gorilla who has been hand-reared since birth, is now fully integrated with the gorilla troop

A baby gorilla which was the first to be born by caesarean section in Britain is now fully integrated into her primate family after being hand-reared by zookeepers.

Afia, a western lowland gorilla, is no longer being cared for by humans and can be seen exploring her new home and clinging onto her new surrogate mother.

The “little miracle” was the first gorilla in the UK to be born by emergency caesarean 10 months ago and fought for her life.

Afia’s mother, Kera, suffered complications following the birth and was not well enough to care for her, so zoo staff have been playing parent to the primate since.

She was hand-reared by keepers behind-the-scenes in Bristol Zoo’s award-winning Gorilla House, where she could be in close proximity to the rest of the gorilla troop.

Staff have spent the last ten months feeding her round the clock, taking it in turns to bring her home with them and teaching Afia natural gorilla instincts.

In that time, zoo keepers have given Afia more than 1,570 bottle feeds, changed nearly 1,400 nappies and given 112 piggy back rides.

The process of introducing Afia to her primate family has been a long and delicate one for the Zoo’s team of experienced gorilla keepers.

Introductions began in October when Afia spent time in direct contact with surrogate mother, Romina.

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